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| Here's your daily Inside Cryptocurrency briefing: - 🔍 The top U.S. securities regulator's subpoena aimed at gathering information on Ether and the Ethereum Foundation,
- 🏃 OKX's exit from the Indian market,
- 🏀 NBA star Tyrese Haliburton's statements on crypto, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested information on Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, from companies working with the Ethereum Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Ethereum blockchain. The information request was served to the firms through an official subpoena. More: - Sources said some companies have stated that the way the Ethereum Foundation first offered Ether in 2014 resembled a securities offering.
- The alleged inquiry was interpreted as a potential turning point for the SEC's years-long crackdown on the crypto industry.
- The SEC classifies all crypto assets other than Bitcoin (BTC) as securities in light of current chair Gary Gensler's approach, claiming jurisdiction over the digital asset market.
- Gensler has been avoiding declaring if Ether is security for years, though he said Ethereum's transition to the proof-of-stake (PoS) model could cause its operations and products to fall under the supervision of the securities laws.
- Ethereum switched from proof-of-work (PoW) to PoS, in which users pledge and stake their existing coins to secure and validate transactions through the Merge upgrade in September 2022 to reduce its energy consumption by 99.95%.
- Analysts say if the SEC declares that Ether is security as a result of the inquiry, this could mean a broader crackdown on the crypto market since the Ethereum blockchain and its native token, ETH, are widely used across the industry.
Zoom Out: - The reports on the SEC's inquiry came shortly after the GitHub repository of the Ethereum Foundation's website revealed that the foundation is currently under a confidential investigation by a state authority.
- However, the related indications were removed from the website after the news broke out without any explanations.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: A recent survey conducted by the investment firm Dragonfly Capital with 49 startups has revealed that U.S.-based companies pay much higher salaries to engineers working in the crypto space than international firms. The survey results pointed out that the average annual salaries at U.S. crypto firms are 13% higher than those at overseas rivals. The report also showed that equity and token incentive packages are similarly 30% higher in the U.S. The poll also found that the minimum annual wage for an entry-level crypto engineer is $105,000 in the U.S., while those engineers' peers abroad are paid a minimum of $86,000. The biggest gap between the salaries is spotted in the manager roles, as salaries at U.S.-based crypto firms start at $187,000, and the maximum wage for managers at international companies stands at $186,000. In addition, the research underlined that a crypto engineer at the executive level gets paid as much as $283,000 a year in both the U.S. and the rest of the world. Relevance: Another survey conducted by the U.S.-based hedge fund Pantera Capital also pointed to similar results in September last year. The survey showed that North America, covering the U.S. within its borders, took the lead in the salaries paid to the Web3 engineers. The study revealed that a Web3 engineer gets paid $166,610 on average in North America, while the global average is $128,000. In the ranking, the region was followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM), and Asia-Pacific (APAC), respectively. Brands that should care: Earlier this year, the data compiled by the crypto-focused venture capital (VC) firm Electric Capital showed that the number of active crypto and blockchain developers declined by 24% in 2023. The report attributed the decline mainly to the crypto winter triggered by the collapses of the previously third-largest crypto exchange, FTX, and the multi-billion-dollar Terra ecosystem in 2022. | | | |
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| 3 | | The collapsed crypto lender Celsius Network's bankruptcy advisers have started contacting customers who withdrew more than $100,000 from the platform shortly before the bankruptcy, requesting them to return those withdrawn funds to avoid potential litigation. The advisers pointed out that those withdrawn funds collectively amounted to more than $2B, representing roughly 40% of Celsius Network's assets within the 90 days before the bankruptcy. More: - The bankruptcy rules allow a company to recover transfers that occur within 90 days before going bankrupt, even if the recipients had no wrongdoing.
- The advisers expect assets recovered through this process to help repay creditors who could not withdraw their stuck funds from Celsius Network.
- The committee said the recovery process will only affect 2% of Celsius Network users.
- The bankruptcy advisers will offer a favorable rate if the affected users choose to settle.
- However, customers denying to settle will face claw-back suits, which could force them to return a higher amount through litigation.
Zoom Out: - Celsius Network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2022, mainly due to its liquidity issues and the crypto market downturn triggered by the multi-billion-dollar Terra ecosystem's collapse.
- The firm officially exited bankruptcy in early February, transforming into a new Bitcoin (BTC) mining company.
- The company has repaid about $2B in assets so far, valuing the customer assets based on the prices on the date it filed for bankruptcy.
- However, some Celsius Network creditors recently claimed they received 30% less compensation than what they were promised under the restructuring plan.
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| 4 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX has announced that it would halt its operations in India through an email sent to local users, citing regulations in the country. In the email, the exchange asked Indian users to close all their positions in their accounts and withdraw their existing funds on the platform by April 30. More: - Users will still be able to continue withdrawing their funds after the specified deadline, though the accounts will be restricted to withdrawals as other functions will become unavailable.
- OKX officially announced its plans to enter India in September 2023, hiring local employees to explore and build new Web3 applications.
- However, the exchange exited the country amid an increased crackdown by India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which runs under the Indian Finance Ministry, on offshore crypto exchanges.
- The country's finance ministry started mandating digital asset firms to register with the FIU and comply with the provisions of the local anti-money laundering laws as of March last year.
- In late December, the FIU also issued a compliance notice against some foreign crypto trading platforms, stating that these exchanges operate illegally in the country without registering with regulators and complying with the local anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.
- At the time, the unit also requested the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the exchanges' URLs, preventing access to their websites in India.
- Following the request, various local telecom networks and internet service providers began blocking the URLs of the websites of the crypto exchanges that received compliance notice, while Google Play Store and Apple App Store also blocked access to the apps of some offshore crypto exchanges, including OKX, in India.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, OKX recently expanded its services to several new markets, including Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, and Singapore.
- The platform is also operational in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Bahamas, and France.
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| 5 | | European stock market operator Euronext's CEO, Stephane Boujnah, has stated that it does not plan to offer crypto trading services anytime soon without seeing support from the regulators for the service. Boujnah pointed out that it is in no hurry to join its European rivals offering crypto services to their clients. More: - Euronext's CEO added that it has always been cautious about crypto assets due to conceptual reasons and the regulators' similar approach to the asset type.
- Euronext facilitates the largest trading operations in Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
- Boujnah said the regulators in Italy and the Netherlands are clearly against the adoption of crypto trading, while the French regulators are very cautious about it.
- The CEO also underlined that he is directly referring to the crypto trading services, not the overall crypto market.
- There are currently 68 crypto-backed exchange-traded products (ETPs) available for Euronext's professional investors in the Netherlands and France despite the firm's cautious approach to crypto trading.
Zoom Out: - Several Europe-based rivals of Euronext, including Deutsche Börse AG, Stuttgart Stock Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), have already launched or announced their plans to introduce crypto services.
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| 6 | | NBA star Tyrese Haliburton has shared his opinions on crypto in a recent interview. The professional basketball player said he could consider receiving a portion of his salary in cryptocurrencies. More: - Haliburton's latest statement came shortly after the NBA star joined the Moonshot event hosted by Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, at the annual NBA All-Star weekend.
- Haliburton appeared with his colleague, Mac McClung, at the event that featured a custom-made dome challenging fans and players to shoot the ball at the speed of crypto.
- In the interview, Haliburton said the presence of crypto in the basketball space is growing, especially with the partnership between Coinbase and the National Basketball Association (NBA).
- The NBA star also pointed out that Bitcoin (BTC) was the first cryptocurrency he heard about, and Spencer Dinwiddie was the first person in the NBA to say anything about it.
- However, the point guard stated that the first cryptocurrency he was involved in became Ether (ETH) since it can be used for NFTs, adding that he later heavily invested in the token.
- He underlined that he also wants to invest in Bitcoin since it is the leading cryptocurrency.
Zoom Out: - Several other crypto firms, including the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, the collapsed crypto lender Voyager Digital, and the crypto exchange Crypto.com, also previously signed marketing deals with NBA teams like the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, and L.A. Clippers.
- However, some of these deals fell through when crypto firms filed for bankruptcy amid a prolonged crypto winter in 2022.
- The NBA was sued by a group of investors last month for allowing teams to promote Voyager Digital.
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 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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